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WATSON'S ART JOTJRNAIi.
9
[From the London Musical World.)
J. P; BARNETT^S "ANCIENT MARINER:"
(concluded.)
■ Another might elect' to deliver it so that the
cu 'rent of the story shall flow equably on,
with but slight indications that the reader is
anything but a reader, and mainly depend-
ing upon the fancy of the listener for dra-
matic interest. Both could be made excellent
ini their way, although as readings they would
differ very widely. In illustrating the Ancient
Mariner, Mr. Barnett r has chosen to make
- large demands.flpon tliB4 ma o* na tWn / o / f , those
who' hear'Tiis work. So far 'does his music
fall short of realizing the incidents of the
story, that it is evident he deliberately (per-
haps wisely we say again) abstained from at-
tempting realism. Accustomed as we are to
tho grandiosity of modern music, and its
painfully labored efforts to express ideas
rarely ever comprehended, the effect is unique
and interesting. . Most composers of -the
present day would have exhausted them-
selves in efforts to depict the marvellous in-
cidents of the theme; with the likely result
of producing a something showing hardly an
intelligible outline— a musical puzzle requir-
ing the help of a "key." Mr. Barnett never
leaves us in doubt as to his meaning, never
once wanders into the region of incoherence,
though sorely tempted by the nature of the
subject. Resolved to let the poem speak for
itself by interfering as little as possible, he
gobs placidly through it, nOw rising some-
what, but never to the heights of passion,
thqn sinking a little, but never to the depths
of pathos. In short, he puts Coleridge for-
ward and hot himself, ahy/iys keeping in the
year of his subject with a self-denial.as.be-.
coming as it is justifiable. Precisely, there-
fore, because the poem is interesting, so is
the cantata, and in the same degree. We
congratulate Mr. Barnett on such a result,
and on the remarkable tact displayed in se-
curing it. The task he undertook was one of
special difficulty. The incidents of the story
could hardly be made more striking even by
music, while any attempt at such a result in-
volved the imminent risk of disastrous fail-
ure^ All that remained was to describe them
in music which should be innocuous. This
Mr. Barnett has successfully done, and as a
result one may rise from a hearing of the
Aniient Mariner with one's previous estimate
of Coleridge perfectly undisturbed. Of the
pon ; er of the cantata to live we have not the
smallest doubt. For reasons already specified
it will be heard again and again; so long, in
fact as people like music which makes no
demand upon their faculties by tho depth of
its meaning, and, at the same time, never
bores them by being utterly meaningless.
Such people we shall always have with us,
and, therefore, the Ancient Mariner will never
want for admirers.
In adapting the poem for musical treat-
ment Mr. Barnett has done very nearly the
best possible. All the more interesting scenes
are retaiued, while the elisions nowhere in-
terfere with the progress of the story. We
are not of tnose who attach any great weight
to the objection urged against cutting the
mariner's tale up into portions and dividing
them among a number of people. Admit
that objection and there is no escape from
the conclusion that the poem is practically
removed from the list of musical subjects.
The' draniatisD&lspnte} being two onlyjoaeof
whom speaks out seldom, and then but few
words, while the other talks indefinitely, it is
obvious that Mr. Barnett's methoTl was; the
only one which rendered musica illustration
possible. But, in addition 1 to this, we fail to
see any necessity for the realism underlying
the objection referred to. Even in reading
the story one cares little or nothing for, the
present circumstances of the speaker and his
unwilling listener, which are forgotten in its
absorbing interest. Indeed, it is only by the
poet's art in making the wedding guest now
and then throw in an interjection, that we
are reminded of the circumstances under
which the events are narrated. But for this
we should see nothing more than a succession
of marvellous pictures beginning as the ship
dropped merrily
" Below the Uirfc, below the Mil,
Below the light-house top;" —
and ending with the blessed hour of the re-
turn, when
" On the bay the Toonligbtlay,
And the shadow of the moon."
As such a panorama Mr. Barnett has.treated
his subject, rightly using those means which,
in his judgment, seemed best adapted to each
picture. It might be urged, that in doing
so, a greater unity would have been obtained
by ignoring the wedding guest altogether,
and keeping simply to the voyage. We are
not prepared to deny the force of this re-
mark, but Mr. Barnett has chosen to retain
him for purposes which pleasantly vary the
music, and induce us to acquiesce without
the slightest inclination to murmur.
A detailed analysis of the cantata would
unduly prolong this article; we shall there-
fore defer till next week the pleasure of more
minutely criticising Mr. Barnett's genial
work.
: : SHAKESPEARE IN MAIDSTONE.
It may be considered a matter of interest
to those who care about the immortal Shakes-
peare, or the celebration of his Tercentenary,
to be informed, that it is something more
than highly probable, that our great Bard
publicly performed in this, good old town of
Maidstone.
Many months since I saw in one of our
public libraries a list of strangers residing in
Maidstone during the month of July, 1588,
and amongst them occurred the rather singu-
lar entry of "James Burbage and ys fel-
lowes." I made a note of it at the time,
little thinking who " James Burbage and ys
fellowes" could be, and the matter had
almost faded from recollection, when I hap-
pened to see a copy of a patent or license
granted to James Burbage and others, in
1574, to exhibit their performances as
"players" throughout "the realm of Eng-
land," under royal protection, as the
"Queen's players." .
Inquiring further, I found that " Burbage
and ys fellowes," of 1588, were really as fol-
lows:— James Burbage, Richard Burbage,
John Laneham, Thomas Greene, Robert
Wilson, Johu Taylor, Anthony Wadson,
Thomas Pope, George Peale, Augustin
Phillips, Nicholas To wnley.JWiLLiAM Phakes-
peabe, and four others. Now came the im-
portant question — Did the said "Queen's
players " perform in Maidstone in 1588 ?
It fortunately occurred to me that perhaps
the ancient documents preserved in the
Muniment room of the Maidstone Corpora-
tion would throw some light on this subject.
By the kind assistance of John Monckton,
Esq., our worthy Town clerk— whose cour-
tesy in this and Other antiquarian matters I
can never sufficiently acknowledge — I was
allowed to examine the accounts of the pay-
ments made by the Chamberlains of the
"Town and Parish of All Saints of Maid-
stone," and there, under the year of 1588,
occur the following most important entries:
s. a.
" 1588.— Payd unto the Queen's players xlil; ilif .
TolbeQueen'splayers, August the 2d. xx. "
From this we shall find it impostiole to ar-
rive at any other conclusion, btit that " Bur-
bage and ys fellowes"— including Shakes-
peare — who were the "Queen's players,"
were really performing at Maidstone in the
month of July, 1588.
The usual place of performance in fine
weather was the "High towne," or Hijh-
street, where a temporary stage with a cover-
ing was erected, and the exact locality seeim
to have been' some eighty feet west of the
Randall Drinking Fountain. In wet weather
"ye Fre Schole" was given up to their use,
and occasionally the scholars were allowed to
assist the- performers in their representa-
tions.
Other entries relating to the "players,"
besides those above quoted, occur in the
Chamberlain's accounts, the most important
of which are:
" 1568.— Received of Mr. Nicholai Austin for s. d.
painted olotbes left at the ptaye... vi. "
Given to the players by Mr. Mater's
coinnvtndment v. "
John Goslinge, for naylos winch were
had to tho phy v. "
Payd for layeinn the timber of ye stage
together.... ........ vi. "
"1569.— Payd to my Lord of Leioostei'sp'uycts. x. "
"1680.— Given to the Queen's payers, and ia
wyne bestowed by appointment of
Mr. Maior xx. "
Payd Wylkyns the carpenter for mak-
ing the scull' Id for tho children,
and nayles iv. "
Payd to Mr. iynley, then Maior, wlvch
he gave my Lord of I.ese^er's pay-
ers thexxlii. of Jaauatv vi. viii.
" 1669 To my Lord ch»mbor : ayno's pla crs . . xx. "
"159;).— Lajdowttotho Qt-on'« pla ei ...... xx. "
To my Lordes, Hrvig'TB, p'.ypi xx. "
"1693.— Payd the Qaeei 's pa er*.. '..'. :x. "
The Lord Adimri i's player- xx. "
"1610.— Givon to the players, cuedrld.cn ouho
ohappell, by Air. .Mai r'a up;oni;-
ment ... v. "
(Tho " children of the ohap. ell" wire theouovistirbo. s
of the CLo.iel lio nl.)
After this date tu.a-ric.tls d<»cliue,l in
Maidstone, as in other places, and the dis-
mal Purtian element spreading, soon ren-
dered representations of this kind specially
unpopular to that body of men, who ulti-
mately sank this eouutiy into the gloomy
depths of fanaticism, and very few amuse-
ments of any kind were t derated by this
party, where, or whenever they had the
power to prevent them. Tho last extract
which I shall give from the Chamberlains'
account, has a twang about it which renders
it perfectly irresistible:
"1610.— Payd to Clanser and Ha'chford for e. d.
keeping the boays of from t .e O ,-. -
terue in tho time of tho Monty
banks being in Towne " viii.".
M » M
Stbalscnd. — Herr August Todt, orgtn'st
from Stettin, lately got up a concert of
sacred music for the benefit of the Children's
Hospital. The programme included: Grand
Fugue with Prelude iu D minor, S. Bach;
Overture to "The Messiah," Handel; Organ
Sonata in C minor, Mendelssohn; Church-
Aria for Soprano: "Ach, Gott, verlassmich
nicht,"Todt; "Ave Maria," for the Organ,
arranged by Cherubini; "Pastorale," from
"The Messiah," Handel; Grand Prelude
with Fugue in A minor, S. Bach; and Grand
Fantasia with Fugue on " Wie schonleuch-
tet der Morgenstern," Todt.